Sources

Every rule in the report is the SSA's own.

The model applies published Social Security Administration rules and data. You can look up any of them yourself, which is the point.

  • Full retirement age
    SSA, Full Retirement Age by year of birth. The schedule setting FRA from 66 (for those born 1943–1954) up to 67 (born 1960 and later), with two-month steps in between.
    ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/agereduction.html
  • Early-claiming cut
    SSA, Early or Late Retirement. The reduction for claiming before FRA: 5/9 of one percent per month for the first 36 months, and 5/12 of one percent per month beyond that, producing a 30 percent cut at age 62 when FRA is 67.
    ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/earlyretire.html
  • Delayed credits
    SSA, Delayed Retirement Credits. The 8 percent per year added to your benefit for delaying past full retirement age, accrued monthly and capped at age 70.
    ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/delayret.html
  • Your statement
    SSA, my Social Security account. Where you find your own estimated monthly benefit at full retirement age, the single most important number you give the report.
    ssa.gov/myaccount
  • Life expectancy
    SSA, Actuarial Life Table (Period Life Table). The life expectancy figures that anchor the longevity assumptions used to total the lifetime benefit at each claiming age.
    ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html
  • Cost-of-living
    SSA, Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). The annual adjustment that raises benefits at all claiming ages together, which is why it does not change which age produces the largest lifetime total.
    ssa.gov/cola
Independent, not official. These are public references we build on. This report is not produced by, affiliated with, or endorsed by the Social Security Administration. Confirm your own figures at ssa.gov before you file.
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